Fastening devices



May 29, 1956 MERCER 2,747,247

FASTENING DEVICES Filed Aug. 23. 1954 27 INVENTOR.

Bert M. Mercer m5 ATTORNEY Unifid States Patent O 6 FASTENING DEVICES Bert M. Mercer, New York, N. Y.

Application August 23, 1954, Serial No. 451,569

6 Claims. (Cl. 24-157) The present invention relates to fastening devices and more particularly to a fastening device of the nature of a buckle for securing the end or tail portion of the gauze of a catamenial bandage or sanitary napkin when in use.

Catamenial bandages are generally supported in use by a fastening device to which the tail of the bandage is releasably secured. The fastening device is in turn usually supported by a belt or waistband which encircles the body of the user. The fasteners are generally located below the waistband and are used in pairs, one at the front and one at the rear of the wearers body slightly above the vicinity of the crotch.

Present day devices for attachment of catamenial bandages include many which afford no assurance that the bandage will not become free and cause extreme embarrassment to the user. Natural movements of the body affect the strain and grip on the bandages, and, as a result, many devices which appear at first glance to be practical are, in fact, very susceptible to slipping and release. Devices of the safety pin type are probably more dependable than many devices of the prior art, but are difiicult to manipulate and introduce danger of scratching, not only when applying the same, but also in those instances where the pin bends and releases. It often happens, likewise, that pins will become bent while applied and are therefore subject to disengagement from their catches, thus releasing the bandage.

The fastening device must hold the tail of the catamenial bandage securely enough to preclude the possibility of the bandage becoming released. The fastener, however, must be easy to operate since they are normally out of sight and difficult to manipulate, especially the one at the back. The fastener should also be readily manipulated with either the right or left hand and from either side.

Therefore, an object of my invention'is to provide a buckle, to which the tails of a catamenial bandage may be easily attached and which has means to prevent said tail from becoming inadvertently released.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fastening device to secure the tail of a catamenial bandage without danger of the tail becoming inadvertently released and yet one which cannot cause injury to the fingers of the user.

A further object of my invention is to provide a buckle with means which will prevent the accidental displacement of the tail of a catamenial bandage therefrom, and yet said means will be easy to operate with either hand of the user and from either side of the buckle.

The above objects, and others which will become ap parent to persons versed in the art to which the invention appertains, as the description proceeds, both by direct recitation thereof and by implication from the context, are achieved in the broad aspects of the invention by providing a buckle having a frame and a prong projecting inwardly of the frame from one end thereof to pierce and hold the tail of the bandage, and a guard or closure means to be positioned transversely to the frame at the ice end of the prong to thereby prevent the napkin tail from slipping off the prong, and further by provision of catch means associated with the guard to releasably retain the guard in its proper position. More specifically, the showing herein contemplates provision of a pivoted guard or gate as the disclosed embodiment of guard or closure means.

My invention will be best understood by reference to the following description of an arbitrarily selected embodiment of my invention and by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views. In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a buckle made in accordance with my invention, the view showing the end or tail of a catamenial bandage inserted in the buckle with the guard means in open position.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the buckle showing the tail of a catamenial bandage inserted in the buckle with the guard means in closed position.

Figure 3 is a vertical edge view of the buckle with the guard in closed position.

Figure 4 is a cross section of the buckle taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

The buckle made according to my invention is adapted to be suspended from a belt which encircles the waist of the user. The buckle is composed of a closed frame 10, the extreme upper end of which has a narrow horizontal bar 11. Directly below said bar is a wider intermediate section 12, and dividing said bar 11 and intermediate section from each other is a transverse narrow aperture 13 through which is inserted a strap or tape 14 which hangs from the belt worn by the user. The upper bar 11 rests upon the tape 14 thereby supporting the buckle. As here shown, the side members 16 of the frame 10 start perpendicularly downward from the intermediate section 12 and then slope inwardly to about their midlength and are then continued downwardly to join the lower end 18 of the frame. Midway of the length of the lower end 18 of the frame is an upwardly projecting prong 19 within the frame 10 having a substantially pointed tip at its upper end which terminates within the narrowed portion of the frame. The side members 16 of the frame 10 have inward bulges 21 at about the midlength thereof at the convergence of said side members to form a restricted passageway or throat 22 at least partially above the end of the prong 19, said prong terminating substantially in said throat but spaced from the bulges 21 of the side members 16 so as to provide a restricted passageway at each side of the prong at its pointed end.

By virtue of the wide frame opening 17 or passageway in the upper part of the frame with its sloping side members 16 spaced from the intermediate section 12 the user may easily insert the tail 20 of a catamenial bandage or pad into the frame opening 17 above the prong, as in Fig. 1, and may then move the tail downwardly through the throat 22 and onto prong 19, as in Fig. 2. Said thoat 22 assures that the tail 20 of the bandage will be bunched and properly located as it is fed to the tip of the prong 19. The narrow lower portion of the frame requires bunching of the material of the tail 20 into slots 23 between the prong and frame sides. The inward bulges 21 of the frame sides forming throat 22 not only function to feed the tail to the prong, but also aid in preventing inadvertent slipping of the bandage from the prong after being applied thereon.

In order to assure that the bandage cannot become accidentally released from the prong 19 a retractable guard or closure is provided to obstruct the upper ends of slots 23 in which the tail is located and to constitute a cross-head for the prong. The guard, according to the present showing, may comprise a pivot guard or gate 24 which is shown as having an upper section 25, an intermediate section or strip 26 and a lower end section 27. The guard 24, as here shown, assumes a shape substantially similar to an inverted letter T. The guard 24 is pivotly attached to. the frame lby. means of a pin or rivet 28 which passes through apertures provided therefor through said guard 24 midway of its upper section 25 and through said frame midway of its intermediate section 12 so that the retractable guard 24 may be swung laterally upon its pivot. At the lower end 27 of the guard 24, on its upper or outer surface, is a struck down portion or recess 29, and at the under-side of said recess 29 is a boss 30. The curvature of said boss 30 is approximately equal to the width of the restricted throat 22.

In order to insert the tail of the bandage through the frame opening 17, as in Fig. 1, the user swings the guard 24 to a raised transverse position so that said guard does not obstruct the frame opening 17. The resiliency of the material of the guard 24 permits it to be flexed as the bosspasses over the side members 16 of the frame. There is suflicient friction between the abutting faces of the guard 24 and the frame 16 to maintain said guard 24 in its raised transverse position. After the tail 20' is affixed onto the prong 19, as in Figure 2, the user swings the guard 24 downward to a longitudinal position until the user feels the boss '30 snap into the space of the restricted passage or throat 22. The flexure of the resilient guard releasably maintains the boss 30 in register With the throat.,22 until the user applies a sufficient swinging pressure or turning force upon the intermediate section or lower end of the guard 24 to release the boss 30 from its engagement with the throat 22 in order to swing the guard 24 upward to its open position. When the guard 24 is in its longitudinal closed position its lower end 27 transversely overlies the throat 22 and provides a crosshead for the prong to obstruct the passageway thereat and prevent the tail 20 of the bandage from being accidentally released from its position over the prong 19 and from within the slots 23.

The intermediate section or strip 26 of the guard is bent or curved inward towards the frame 10 so that the lower end27 of the guard is forced to maintain a snugger frictional contact upon the side members 16 and the inward bulge 21. sections of the frame 10; The drawings do not reflect the bendin the strip 26 of the guard because it is very slight and normally indiscernable.

As a result of my invention it will be seen that there is provided'a buckle for securing the tail gauze of a catamenial bandage, said buckle having a construction promoting easy insertion and adjustment of the tail, and having a construction by which the tail is prevented by a guard from accidentally slipping from the buckle and yet is readily removable from the bucklewhen desired. The construction is one which is readily manipulated with either hand and from either side without having to be in view at the time. The guard has no direct gripping action upon the tail of the pad and it is therefore independent of any required thickness, or restriction of thickness, of the tail material.

While I have thus shown and described the embodiments which my'invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that such embodiments are merely for the purpose of illustration and description and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A fastening device for securing the tail of a catamenial bandage, comprising. a. substantially fiat frame having side and transverse members, a prong in said frame lying substantially in the plane thereof and integral at one end with one transverse member proximate to one end of the frame and projecting in a direction longitudinally of the frame part way of the. length of said frame and terminating upwardly in a tip directed toward the other end of said frame for receiving the material of said tail after said material is inserted through the frame, and a pivoted guard swingable to and from a closed position adjacent to said tip and locatedv in its closed position adjacent to said tip, said guard having a pivot at a location on the frame substantially alined with said prong above the tip to retain the tail on said prong and to obstruct the passage of said tail upwardly off said prong.

2. A fastening device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said. guard comprises a pendulous element with said pivot next to an end thereof, said pendulous element being adapted to swing laterally across the frame to a position substantially transverse to the frame when in its opened condition and to a position substantially longitudinally and medially of said frame when it is in its cl osed' condition.

3. A fastening device in accordance with claim 1 wherein one of said transverse members is at an upper part of said frame and said guard is pivotly connected to said one ofsaid transverse members of said frame.

4. A fastening device in accordance with claim 1 and wherein is provided means substantially in a dead center alignment between the pivot and the prong to releasably retain said guard in its closed position.

5. A fastening device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said' prong and side members cooperate to provide slots longitudinally at the sides of said prong ending upwardly in a common throat and wherein said pivoted guard in itsclosed position provides lower edge portions which are transverse to said throat above said slots and substantially adjacent to the tip of said prong.

6. A fastening device in accordance with claim 5 and including detent means adjacent to the extremity of said pivoted guard engageable in said throat to releasably retain said guard in its closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 855,529 Raymond et al June 4, 1907 1,106,886 Molloy Aug. 11, 1914 1,153,334 Oswald Sept. 14, 1915 2,017,551 Statter Oct. 15, 1935 2,579,694 Pari Dec. 25, 1951 

